Comparing ACCHSs and GPs: Health Services for Indigenous Communities

This report provides a comparative analysis of the healthcare services offered by Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHSs) and General Practitioners (GPs) in Australia, with a specific focus on Indigenous communities. The report highlights the cost-effectiveness and cultural safety advantages of ACCHSs, emphasizing their holistic approach and alignment with the needs of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It discusses the importance of transcultural care, cultural diversity, and cultural security in nursing interventions, as well as the role of self-determination in improving health outcomes. The report references relevant literature to support its arguments, including the significance of cultural influence and practices in fostering holistic care and addressing the challenges faced by Indigenous communities in accessing healthcare services. The report emphasizes that cultural safety is a crucial element for effective and equitable healthcare delivery.

Question 2:
Primary health services and care interventions offered by the ACCHS are different than those by a GP.
First, while maintaining cultural safety, ACCHS health and care services are inexpensive as compared to
general practitioner's services, hindering holistic care of the ATSI community. However, interventions
provided by ACCHS offer greater health benefits than GP services. Hence, medical services offered by
GPs are not controlled by the community, lacking in relevance to the people of that community. On the
other hand, ACCHS are directly a part of NACCHO, which aims to provide holistic and culturally safe
medical services and interventions to the Aboriginals and Strait Islander people, along with effective and
comprehensive medical services (Nyanga et al., 2018).
Question 3:
While working with ATSIWHs, nurses need to consider factors such as transcultural culture and cultural
diversity, respect and cultural security (Topp, Edelman & Taylor, 2018). Different kinds of nursing
interventions and medical practices need to be culturally competent that specifically engages with the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. Additionally, nurses must focus on cultural safety for its
relevance to ATSIHWs and make the community feel that they are being listened and paid attention to.
Question 4:
Self-determination is a fundamental right that must be facilitated in indigenous groups that experience
inadequacy of health and well-being services (Yaffe, 2018). In this aspect, the ACCHS is determined to
improve the social and cultural development of the community by combating the community’s medical
disadvantage. ATSIHWs are determined to make medical services and nursing interventions more
culturally relevant for the ATSI community, by focusing on practices that help the community overcome
disadvantages and challenges in acquiring medical services. Cultural safety for the Aboriginals and
Torres Strait Islander people ensures that the cultural influence and practices of the community are well
preserved while emphasizing on holistic care approaches for improving the overall well-being of the
community.
References
Topp, S., Edelman, A., & Taylor, S. (2018). “We are everything to everyone”: a systematic review of
factors influencing the accountability relationships of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health
workers (AHWs) in the Australian health system. International Journal For Equity In Health, 17(1).
Nyanga, R., Biviano, L., Warren, S., Windsor, J., Zwi, K., & Gunasekera, H. (2018). Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander health-care delivery: The views of health-care professionals in Sydney's tertiary paediatric
hospitals. Journal Of Paediatrics And Child Health, 54(9), 1023-1030.
Yaffe, N. (2018). Indigenous Consent: A Self-Determination Perspective. SSRN Electronic Journal.